Cautionary Tales Of Age Discrimination Cases

Law360, New York (December 15, 2010, 2:36 PM EST) -- Several recent cases highlight the increasing need for managers to avoid comments that could be interpreted as "ageist." In communicating to staff that the organization values fresh ideas and perspectives, managers too often stray from terminology that is clearly about a way of thinking into examples or phrases that may imply that the speaker associates the desired characteristics with youth.

In August 2010, the California Supreme Court dealt with such claims by a 52-year-old director-level employee at Google Inc. who claimed that his boss described his...